Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire electric discharge machine comprising a hand operation panel.
Description of the Related Art
In a wire electric discharge machine, it is necessary to set axial movement during the machining and machining conditions for controlling electric discharge machining, such as a machining voltage, quiescent time, wire tension, etc.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-122524 discloses a technique in which machining conditions are selected on a display screen attached to the body of an electric discharge machine and tables are manually positioned using a manual pulse generator. In setting the machining conditions, in particular, according to this technique, values for the machining condition setting are input on the display screen that is located at a distance from the machining position. Therefore, the machining state cannot be observed near the machining position during the machining as the machining conditions are set.
While a hand operation panel is used to move axes and tables according to some conventional techniques, machining conditions are set by inputting values on a control panel. Therefore, the machining state cannot be observed near the machining position during the machining as the machining conditions of an electric discharge machine are set.
In the case where the axes and tables are moved on the hand operation panel, moreover, the hand operation panel is configured so that an axis is moved at a specified speed while a button for the specified speed is being manually depressed. If the axis moving speed is expected to be changed, therefore, it is necessary to manually push a button for another specified speed.